


prompt: caught you staring + fixing your hair

by kocuria



Series: Industrial Grade Softness Stucky [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Bucky Barnes & Shuri Friendship, Cap is smitten, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Fix-It, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hair Braiding, Industrial grade softness, M/M, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Bucky Barnes, Oblivious Steve Rogers, POV Outsider, Pining, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Pre-Relationship, Shuri Is a Good Bro, Soft Bucky, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Well almost, pre-stucky, self-care
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-11
Updated: 2019-08-11
Packaged: 2020-08-19 03:23:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20202931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kocuria/pseuds/kocuria
Summary: It was something that he wanted to do for a long time, he'd said, but when he was on the run, fancy hair would have only made him stand out more and so was out of the question. They'd spent a few very enjoyable evenings watching YouTube and figuring out where to even begin - and it'd turned out Bucky was a natural.Of coursehe was, the hand she'd built for him was perfect for precision work,thank you very much.





	prompt: caught you staring + fixing your hair

**Author's Note:**

> Since all of the, like, 7 different projects I'm currently working on have a huge publication delay because of Reasons, I was prompted to actually do some instant gratification drabbling.  
So, grabbed a k10, got 4 and 8, browsed through [Fluff Bingo](http://fluffbingo.tumblr.com/prompt-list) prompts (48: Caught you staring; 84: Fixing [each other's] hair) and this is what happened.  
  
Find me on [Tumblr](https://kocuria.tumblr.com/) or [Twitter!](https://twitter.com/kocuria)  


Shuri was standing at Tony's holo-table, trying to figure out _how the hell_ did he make the damn inverted Moebius strip thing work. It worked - _obviously_ it did, since they were all _here_ \- but for the life of her she couldn't get the calculations to make any sort of sense. Frustrated, she ran her hand through her hair and cast her eyes around for anything that would distract her. Maybe her brain just needed to process stuff quietly in the background for a second.

The house was eerily quiet, considering the number of people present - nobody wanting to disturb the sad, hushed atmosphere of the day. Pepper was off with Morgan somewhere, no doubt getting ready for the ceremony later, and everyone else just sort of... drifted, not knowing what to do with themselves in her absence. Sam was standing by the window with Maria Hill, both looking out over the lake; Peter was in the kitchen nursing his tea, and Steve...

Oh. Steve was watching Bucky.

Bucky, who was sitting in the armchair in the corner, meticulously brushing out his hair, preparing to put it up like she's taught him.

White people hair behaved _nothing_ like hers, so she'd actually had to re-learn a lot when he came to her and asked for her help. It was something that he wanted to do for a long time, he'd said, but when he was on the run, fancy hair would have only made him stand out more and so was out of the question. They'd spent a few very enjoyable evenings watching YouTube and figuring out where to even begin - and it'd turned out Bucky was a natural. _Of course_ he was, the hand she'd built for him was perfect for precision work, _thank you very much_.

So he'd rocked a different do every day, ranging from a simple French braid to some really sophisticated layered crowns topped with flowers that the local kids were always giving him. She only wondered why he'd never done any of that when his friends came to visit - he'd always chosen the simplest bun on those days - but assumed it was something that he needed to work up to. He was so much more open with her than he was with them, she noticed - she'd literally been in his head, after all, so it was probably understandable. Still, it hurt to see him wear a mask in front of people who cared about him so much - that's why she was pleasantly surprised to see him now. The process always relaxed him, so she guessed he was doing it to calm himself down in the tense atmosphere surrounding the funeral of the man he'd unwittingly hurt so much.

Bucky was in the zone, head tilted, eyes closed; motions practiced and hypnotic. He finally laid down the brush and started quickly separating the strands and twisting them together in a fishtail braid - well, it was a simple one, but still more elaborate than anything he's ever shown his friends before. His hair was shiny and smooth - the grime and dust of the battle carefully washed out - and the process was mesmerizing, flesh and metal fingers working together, hands so skilled in killing creating something soft and beautiful instead.

And Steve... Steve was completely _gone_. She's long known there was something there - hell, you could see their mutual attraction from the bloody moon on a clear night - but usually the Captain wasn't quite so obvious about it. Now he was openly gaping, mouth a little open, cheeks a little flushed, eyes riveted on his best friend.

She could see that Bucky was just about to finish, and then the jig would be up - he'd definitely notice Steve looking. She cleared her throat discreetly, knowing Steve would hear her, and had the satisfaction of seeing him blush like a tomato when he realized she's caught him staring. He blinked a few times like he was waking up from a dream, then turned on his heel and quickly went out to the porch.

Bucky looked up at her, putting the last strands in, and she gave him a huge smile and a thumbs-up. He didn't seem to notice whatever it was that just happened, and maybe that was for the best - today definitely wasn't the best time to have this conversation. It's waited more than 80 years, it could wait another day.

**Author's Note:**

> So, the hairstyle I'm thinking of:
> 
> amazing photo from [here](https://knotsvilla.com/lavender-garden-wedding-inspiration-winnipeg-mb/) 😊
> 
> Let me know what you think! 🙃  
  
  



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